PBS stalls airing film on Islam

After protests put stop to broadcast, makers urge network to show movie

April 29, 2007|By Karoun Demirjian | Karoun Demirjian,Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON -- The film features grainy footage and dramatic music, presenting a stark look at the way fundamentalist Muslims in America and Europe crush dissent by their more moderate co-religionists.

But the production of Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center has highlighted different views about the state of Islam in the U.S., and showcased how intensely sensitive that subject remains. PBS, which commissioned the project, is delaying airing the film after protests that it is anti-Muslim. Its creators are launching a campaign against PBS to get it shown.

The hourlong documentary is one of 22 episodes funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for PBS' America at a Crossroads series, which examines post-Sept. 11 subjects such as terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the experience of American troops overseas, and global perspectives on U.S. foreign policy.

Islam vs. Islamists follows the efforts of socially liberal Muslims in America and Europe to reclaim their religion from political extremism by speaking out against ultra-conservative imams in a sort of modern-day Muslim reformation.

But the film never made it into the initial lineup of 11 shows that aired recently. A film about discrimination against Muslims, The Muslim Americans, did air as part of the series.

The producers and subjects of the Islam vs. Islamists film, who began to show it in private screenings last week, say that PBS began to demand what the producers saw as unrealistic editorial changes after the series' advisers, acting on criticism from such Muslim groups as the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Nation of Islam, complained that the documentary unfairly portrayed Muslim religious leaders.

They say their experience with PBS proves the point of their film -- that moderate Muslims have no platform from which to criticize extremists in their own religion.

"I can't see what they object to, except that they don't want to see the true plight against modern-day Muslims," said Hedieh Mirahmadi, a representative of a moderate imam who spoke at a screening in Washington that was organized by the film's producers.

Mirahmadi argued, for example, that the Saudi-based Wahhabist movement, a fundamentalist form of Islam, has spread across the U.S.

Mary Stewart, a spokeswoman for WETA, the PBS station in Washington, and executive producer for the Crossroads series, said in a phone interview that though the film had not made the cut for the first 11 parts that were broadcast, it would be aired as soon as PBS feels that it has been satisfactorily edited.

"It is a film with a lot of promise," she said. "But every film that comes through PBS goes through editorial standards. They have received notes on what editorial changes would need to be made to bring it up to standards for PBS."

Producers and hosts of the Crossroads series have publicly accused the production team for Islam vs. Islamists of showing an editorial slant by being overly alarmist and demonizing imams. But defenders of the documentary say it merely portrays, in realistic terms, the divisions within the Islamic community in the West.